A craft caught between heritage and high gold and silver prices

Temple jewellery, a unsocial trade practised by the artisans of Vadasery in Nagercoil, continues to past with its distinctive manufacturing method and affluent antiquity. It enjoys a celebrated space, particularly among the classical dancers, for its intricate cuts, accepted design, and enduring quality. Each portion is handcrafted with precision. The motifs inspired by deities, nature, and animals let the jewellery to basal retired not lone arsenic an adornment but besides arsenic a surviving testament to practice and taste excellence.

As golden and metallic prices interaction a caller precocious each week, jewellery manufacturers and traders spot it arsenic a marketplace concern. Notably successful South India, golden and metallic has ne'er been conscionable a commodity. Long earlier the advent of the planetary golden marketplace and trading indices, these metals occupied ineffable spaces successful temple sanctums, adorning deities and worn by kings, queens, dancers, and commoners alike.

Change successful creation

With the incessant emergence successful golden and metallic prices, the accepted temple jewellery-makers of Vadasery are witnessing a setback successful their trade. Though the merchandise secured a Geographical Indication tag, the manufacturers consciousness greater nationalist vulnerability is indispensable for its survival. “The past of temple jewellery dates backmost to 9th Century AD,” says Nagalingam, who has been successful this concern for the past 35 years. During the aboriginal period, the temple jewel was made wholly with gold, embedded with precious stones and uncut diamonds. “Over time, owing to the emergence successful golden prices, the creation changed to 75% metallic and 25% golden with kemp and solid stones,” helium adds.

He says, “The enactment begins with hand-made metallic moulds which are filled with wax for fixing kemp stones. The portion is past finished with golden leafage and golden coating.” He recalls learning from his ancestors that the chieftains of Ramnad and Chettinad used to committee temple jewellery arsenic offerings for deities, each clip ordering from the artisans of Vadasery. “Even today, artisans from present are invited to Chennai and Bengaluru, erstwhile crown and different temple offerings are required connected a ample scale,” helium notes.

Folklorist A.K. Perumal says the concern flourished erstwhile Nagercoil was nether the indirect governance of the Chola kingdom. “Initially, the temple jewellery was made for deities, kings, and devadasis who were temple dancers. After the devadasi strategy was abolished, the trade reached a wider audience, particularly classical dancers,” helium explains. However, the caller surge successful golden and metallic prices has resulted successful a diminution successful orders. Around 50 families and 300 craftsmen of Vadasery  beryllium connected the temple jewellery-making, which has been their superior root of livelihood for centuries.

Anand Krishnan, an artisan with implicit 15 years of experience, highlights the driblet successful demand, noting that a afloat jewellery acceptable that earlier outgo astir ₹1.5 lakh is being sold for ₹3 lakh within a year. The ornaments successful emblematic temple jewellery are necklace, agelong ‘haaram’, ‘jhumkas’, ‘vanki’, ‘odiyaanam’, ‘maattal’, and rings, and caput ornaments specified arsenic ‘suriya thilakam’, ‘chandira thilakam’, ‘raakodi’, and ‘netrichutti’. “The hep loop (‘oddiyanam’) which was sold for ₹50,000 past period is being sold for ₹80,000. The accelerated fluctuations successful golden and metallic prices person made it highly hard for america to cipher the cost,” helium says. He adds that portion a fewer nonstop orders are received, astir of the finished jewellery is transported to shops successful Chennai.

Imitation jewellery comes successful

Pointing retired galore dancers person begun opting for imitation jewellery owing to the rising prices of the temple jewellery, Mr. Krishnan says the manufacture successful Vadasery is struggling to recover, arsenic artisans effort to equilibrium the escalating outgo without compromising connected quality. “The implicit acceptable requires the pre-order of minimum 2 months, arsenic each cuts and designs successful the jewellery are hand-made, making the merchandise exceptional and costlier than imitation jewels,” helium says.

Mr. Nagalingam notes that the kemp stones, procured from Tiruchengode, outgo astir ₹1,000 for 11.600 grams and the diminution successful temple jewellery orders has indirectly impacted the kemp chromatic manufacture too. “Although we are being invited to grounds our products astatine authorities exhibitions, the aforesaid fewer radical are repeatedly invited. We consciousness that chances indispensable beryllium fixed to each temple jewellery-makers,” helium adds. As the temple jewellery-making involves astatine slightest 8 craftsmen for a azygous piece, the surge successful golden and metallic prices has severely affected those babelike connected the craft. “Many artisans person begun shifting to different businesses,” helium says.

With uncertainty looming implicit the future, the manufacturers proceed to hunt ways to revive the manufacture and prolong the livelihood of craftsmen babelike connected this tradition.